Fly Me to My Chamorro Mom's Funeral
Donation protected
Have you ever felt with all your heart and soul that you just needed to be somewhere for a particular event, that there's no way you could possibly miss it?
On Saturday, the 18th of November, 2017, I awoke to a phone call and text message informing me of the passing of my aunt. She wasn't just my aunt, though. She was my second mom. My Chamorro mom.
You see, for part of my childhood, she raised me alongside my cousins as if I were a part of their immediate family. Though I was born into a Filipino family, I also grew up with a Chamorro identity because of how she raised me in those early years of my life.
I had a large network of extended Chamorro family because all of her relatives, though not related to me by blood, also accepted me as one of their own and treated me as if I were truly a part of their family.
My Chamorro mom taught me the Chamorro language and cooked me Chamorro food all the time, and just really instilled a lot of Chamorro culture and values into me, so I grew up to truly identify with and appreciate Chamorros. To this day, I still consider myself Chamorro at heart because of how embedded I was in all of it thanks to my aunt.
As I grew older and left Saipan, though, I became distant from her and her family (as well as my own, for that matter). I think I only saw her a couple of times in my adult life, when she would take little vacations to California and we would meet up.
I ended up taking her for granted in my adult life because of how detached I had become from all things Saipan. I haven't been home in over a decade now, so Saipan and everything pertaining to it, including my Chamorro mom and her family, kind of just slipped to the back of my mind.
Now that she's gone, she will never know how much I truly loved and appreciated all that she did for me when I was kid. She will never see the day that I am truly fluent in the Chamorro language. She will never know how much she instilled in me this Chamorro identity that I still claim and cherish to this day.
I should have made more of an effort to keep in touch with her and check up on her in my adult life, but I didn't. There's nothing I can do to take any of that back or change it, and it kills me.
The only thing I can do now is be there on Saipan for her funeral on Tuesday the 28th. I've made so many excuses for not visiting my home island over the years, but now no excuse can be made. The death of my Chamorro mom is calling me home to the land I was born and raised on.
I feel with all my heart and soul that I absolutely need to get home. Unfortunately, I do not have the funds required to purchase this outrageously expensive plane ticket home to Saipan from Salt Lake City. Every search I've tried on every travel site I could find brought up prices upwards of $2300.
I've never really been one to ask people for money, because I hate feeling like I'm just asking for handouts. But several people have suggested to me that I try to raise funds through GoFundMe, so here I am. Desperate times call for desperate mesaures. And I truly am desperate right now.
In order to try to mitigate the whole "asking for handouts" feeling, I've asked a few of my artist friends to help provide some sort of reward for people who donate bigger sums to help me reach my goal. I'm not sure what they will be donating yet, but it will be a combination of a variety of arts and crafts.
As for myself, when I do end up succeeding with this fundraiser and I end up finally kissing the ground of the island I was born and raised on, where I spent the first 18 years of my life, I plan to take a lot of pictures and videos so that I can share with you all just how much of a paradise that place is, to show you how much I truly appreciate all of your help with getting me home for my Chamorro mom's funeral.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my campaign. I hope you decide to donate. Every little bit helps.
On Saturday, the 18th of November, 2017, I awoke to a phone call and text message informing me of the passing of my aunt. She wasn't just my aunt, though. She was my second mom. My Chamorro mom.
You see, for part of my childhood, she raised me alongside my cousins as if I were a part of their immediate family. Though I was born into a Filipino family, I also grew up with a Chamorro identity because of how she raised me in those early years of my life.
I had a large network of extended Chamorro family because all of her relatives, though not related to me by blood, also accepted me as one of their own and treated me as if I were truly a part of their family.
My Chamorro mom taught me the Chamorro language and cooked me Chamorro food all the time, and just really instilled a lot of Chamorro culture and values into me, so I grew up to truly identify with and appreciate Chamorros. To this day, I still consider myself Chamorro at heart because of how embedded I was in all of it thanks to my aunt.
As I grew older and left Saipan, though, I became distant from her and her family (as well as my own, for that matter). I think I only saw her a couple of times in my adult life, when she would take little vacations to California and we would meet up.
I ended up taking her for granted in my adult life because of how detached I had become from all things Saipan. I haven't been home in over a decade now, so Saipan and everything pertaining to it, including my Chamorro mom and her family, kind of just slipped to the back of my mind.
Now that she's gone, she will never know how much I truly loved and appreciated all that she did for me when I was kid. She will never see the day that I am truly fluent in the Chamorro language. She will never know how much she instilled in me this Chamorro identity that I still claim and cherish to this day.
I should have made more of an effort to keep in touch with her and check up on her in my adult life, but I didn't. There's nothing I can do to take any of that back or change it, and it kills me.
The only thing I can do now is be there on Saipan for her funeral on Tuesday the 28th. I've made so many excuses for not visiting my home island over the years, but now no excuse can be made. The death of my Chamorro mom is calling me home to the land I was born and raised on.
I feel with all my heart and soul that I absolutely need to get home. Unfortunately, I do not have the funds required to purchase this outrageously expensive plane ticket home to Saipan from Salt Lake City. Every search I've tried on every travel site I could find brought up prices upwards of $2300.
I've never really been one to ask people for money, because I hate feeling like I'm just asking for handouts. But several people have suggested to me that I try to raise funds through GoFundMe, so here I am. Desperate times call for desperate mesaures. And I truly am desperate right now.
In order to try to mitigate the whole "asking for handouts" feeling, I've asked a few of my artist friends to help provide some sort of reward for people who donate bigger sums to help me reach my goal. I'm not sure what they will be donating yet, but it will be a combination of a variety of arts and crafts.
As for myself, when I do end up succeeding with this fundraiser and I end up finally kissing the ground of the island I was born and raised on, where I spent the first 18 years of my life, I plan to take a lot of pictures and videos so that I can share with you all just how much of a paradise that place is, to show you how much I truly appreciate all of your help with getting me home for my Chamorro mom's funeral.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my campaign. I hope you decide to donate. Every little bit helps.
Organizer
Kelvin Rodeo
Organizer
West Jordan, UT